Dynamic Analysis - Eigensolution Page 1 of 8

Dynamic Analysis - Eigensolution

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Dynamic Analysis - Eigensolution

The dynamic analysis calculates the modes and frequencies of vibration for the model. This is a prerequisite to the
response spectra analysis, which uses these frequencies to calculate forces, stresses and deflections in the model. For
more information, see Dynamic Analysis - Response Spectra.

What do you want to do?

Perform a dynamic analysis.

Specify Dynamic Mass.
Perform a response spectra analysis.
View modal frequency results.
View mode shape results.

What do you want to know?

How many modes should I specify?

What is the convergence tolerance?
When should I change the work vector specification?

You may calculate up to 500 modes for a model. The process used to calculate the modes is called an eigensolution.
The frequencies and mode shapes are referred to as eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
The dynamic analysis uses a lumped mass matrix with inertial terms. Any vertical loads that exist in the Load
Combination for Mass will be automatically converted to masses based on the acceleration of gravity entry on the
Solution tab of the Global Parameters. However, you must always enter the inertial terms as Joint Masses.

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To Perform a Dynamic Analysis / Eigensolution

1. You may wish to solve a static analysis first to verify that there are no instabilities.
2. Click Solve on the main menu and select Dynamics from the solution options.
3. Specify the load combination to use as the mass and the number of modes to solve.

Note

You may view the mode shapes graphically by choosing this option in the Plot Options.
Refer to Dynamic Analysis - Response Spectra for more information on that type of dynamic analysis.
The Dynamic Solver option has been moved to the Global Parameters - Solution tab Advanced options.

Required Number of Modes

You may specify how many of the model’s modes (and frequencies) are to be calculated. The typical requirement is
that when you perform the response spectra analysis (RSA), at least 90% of the model's mass must participate in the
solution. Mass participation is discussed in the Response Spectra Analysis section.
The catch is you first have to do a dynamic analysis in order to know how much mass is participating so this becomes
a trial and error process. First pick an arbitrary number of modes (5 to 10 is usually a good starting point) and solve
the RSA. If you have less than 90% mass, you'll need to increase the number of modes and try again. Keep in mind
that the more modes you request, the longer the dynamic solution will take.
Note

If you are obtaining many modes with little or no mass they are probably local modes. Rather than asking
for even more modes and increasing the solution time see Dynamics Troubleshooting – Local Modes to
learn how to treat the unwanted modes.

Dynamic Mass
The eigensolution is based on the stiffness characteristics of your model and also on the mass distribution in your
model. There must be mass assigned to be able to perform the dynamic analysis. Mass may be calculated
automatically from your loads or defined directly.
In order to calculate the amount and location of the mass contained in your model, RISA takes the vertical loads
contained in the load combination you specify for mass and converts them using the acceleration of gravity defined in
the Global Parameters. The masses are lumped at the joints and applied in all three global directions (X, Y and Z
translation).
You may also specify mass directly. This option allows you to restrict the mass to a direction. You can also apply a
mass moment of inertia to account for the rotational inertia effects for distributed masses. See Loads - Joint Force /
Displacement to learn more about this.
Note

Only the VERTICAL loads (including vertical components of inclined loads) contained in the load
combination are converted to mass! Remember, you can designate which of the three global axes is to be
considered the vertical axis via the Global Parameters.
The self-weight of the model is NOT automatically included in the mass calculation. If you wish to have
self-weight included, you must have it defined as part of the load combination.
You may want to move the mass to account for accidental torsion, which is discussed in the next section.

Floor Diaphragm Mass

If your model was generated from within RISAFloor then the program will automatically assign dynamic mass and
mass moments of inertia (MMOI) to each of the RISAFloor diaphragms. This mass and MMOI is based on the self

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weight and loading information defined in RISAFloor.

Modeling Accidental Torsion

Most design codes require an assumed accidental torsion that is in addition to the natural torsion created by the
location of mass with respect to rigidity. While RISA-3D calculates the natural torsion you may want to model
additional accidental torsion. This can be done easily by taking advantage of the rigid diaphragm feature.
Note:

Review the specific requirements of the building code to confirm this. But, most codes will allow you to neglect
accidental torsion for dynamic analysis and response spectra.

If you have modeled the dynamic mass at the center of mass only, then you may simply move the joints that specify
the center of mass. For example, if the required accidental eccentricity is 5% of the building dimension then move the
joints that distance, perpendicular to the applied spectra. You may then run the dynamic/rsa solution and combine
the results with a static solution to check your members and plates for adequate capacity. You will have to do this by
running solutions for all four directions to capture the controlling effects on all frames. You will not be able to
envelope your results since you are changing the dynamic results each time you move the mass, so you will probably
want to check all your load conditions one additional time after all your member sizes work to make sure that any
force redistribution in your frames hasn't caused other members to fail.
Note that when you lump all your floor mass to the center of mass, you should also enter a Mass Moment of Inertia for
your diaphragm as well by applying it as a Joint Mass to the center of mass joint. The rotational inertial effects of the
diaphragm mass will contribute to your torsion shears and should not be ignored in most cases. See Loads - Joint
Force / Displacement to learn more about this.
If you have not modeled the mass at discrete points that can be easily moved then you will have to apply the
accidental torsion as a static load that will be part of a static analysis solution that includes the response spectra or
equivalent lateral force procedure results. The magnitude of the torque will be the product of the story force and the
accidental offset distance.
The accidental offset distance is usually a percentage of the building dimension perpendicular to the assumed
earthquake direction. The story force is the story mass times the acceleration at that story level. If you are using an
equivalent lateral static force procedure, you will have already calculated your story forces. If you are performing a
response spectrum analysis, you can get the story forces exactly as the difference between the sum of the shears
below and above the floor. Alternately, you could more simply use the full weight of the floor as the story force and
then apply the scaling factor for your normalized spectra to this value as well. This simplified method may be
unconservative if your floor accelerations have large amplifications as compared to your base acceleration due to the
dynamic characteristics of your building.
The torsion can be applied as a point torque that you can apply to a joint on the diaphragm. The torque can also be
applied as a force couple, with the magnitude of the forces determined by the distance between them to make the
needed torque value. Often it is convenient to apply the forces for the couple at the ends of the building. One
advantage of applying the accidental torsion as a static force is that you can set up all your required load combinations
and let RISA-3D envelope them for you in one solution run.

Eigensolution Convergence
The eigensolution procedure for dynamic analysis is iterative, i.e. a guess is made at the answer and then improved
upon until the guess from one iteration closely matches the guess from the previous iteration. The tolerance value is
specified in the Global Parameters and indicates how close a guess needs to be to consider the solution to be
converged. The default value of .001 means the frequencies from the previous cycle have to be within .001 Hz of the
next guess frequencies for the solution to be converged. You should not have to change this value unless you require a
more accurate solution (more accurate than .001?). Also, if you're doing a preliminary analysis, you may wish to relax
this tolerance to speed up the eigensolution. If you get warning 2019 (missed frequencies) try using a more stringent
convergence tolerance (increase the exponent value for the tolerance).

Saving Dynamic Solutions

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After you’ve done the dynamic solution, you can save that solution to file to be recalled and used later.
Note

This solution is saved in a .__R file and will be deleted when the Save or Save As options are used to
overwrite the file. You may also delete this file yourself.

Work Vectors
When you request a certain number of modes for dynamic analysis (let's call that number N), RISA tries to solve for
just a few extra modes. Once the solution is complete, RISA goes back to check that the modes it solved for are indeed
the N lowest modes. If they aren't, one or more modes were missed and an error is reported.

Dynamics Modeling Tips

Dynamics modeling can be quite a bit different than static modeling. A static analysis will almost always give you
some sort of solution, whereas you are not guaranteed that a dynamics analysis will converge to a solution. This is
due in part to the iterative nature of the dynamics solution method, as well as the fact that dynamics solutions are far
less forgiving of modeling sloppiness than are static solutions. In particular, the way you model your loads for a static
analysis can be very different than the way you model your mass for a dynamic analysis.
The term “dynamics solution” is used to mean the solution of the free vibration problem of a structure, where we hope
to obtain frequencies and mode shapes as the results.
In general, the trick to a “good” dynamics solution is to model the structure stiffness and mass with “enough” accuracy
to get good overall results, but not to include so much detail that it take hours of computer run time and pages of extra
output to get those results. Frame problems are simpler to model than those that include plate elements. “Building
type” problems, where the mass is considered lumped at the stories are much easier to successfully model than say a
cylindrical water tank with distributed mass. It is often helpful to define a load combination just for your dynamic
mass case, separate from your “Dead Load” static case (You can call it “Seismic Mass”). Your seismic mass load
combination will often be modeled very differently from your “Dead Load” static case.
If you apply your dynamic mass with distributed loads or surface loads on members/plates that are adjacent to
supports, remember that the some of the load will go directly into the support and be lost to the dynamic solution.
The mass that can actually vibrate freely is your “active mass”, as opposed to your “static mass” which includes the
mass lost into the supports. If you are having trouble getting 90% mass participation, you should roughly calculate
the amount of mass that is being lost into your supports. You may need to reapply some of your mass as joint loads to
your free joints. Or you may want to add more free joints to your model, by splitting up your plates or beams.
Modes for discretized mass models with very few degrees of freedom may not be found by the solver, even if you
know you are asking for fewer modes than actually exist. In this case it may be helpful to include the self weight of the
model with a very small factor (i.e. 0.001) to help the solver identify the modes.
Distributed mass models with plate elements, like water tanks, often require special consideration. You will want to
use a fine enough mesh of finite elements to get good stiffness results. Often though, the mesh required to obtain an
accurate stiffness will be too dense to simply model the mass with self-weight or surface loads. You will want to
calculate the water weight and tank self-weight and apply it in a more discrete pattern than you would get using
surface loads or self-weight. This method of using fewer joints to model the mass than to model the stiffness is often
referred to as "discretizing" the mass. You want to lump the mass at fewer points to help the solution converge faster,
however you have to be careful to still capture the essence of the dynamic behavior of the structure.
Whenever you perform a dynamic analysis of a shear wall structure, and the walls are connected to a floor, you must
be careful to use a fine mesh of finite elements for each wall. Each wall should be at least 4 elements high between
floors. This will give you at least 3 free joints between them.
When you perform a dynamic analysis of beam structures, such that you are trying to capture the flexural vibrations,
(i.e., the beams are vibrating vertically or in the transverse direction), you must make sure that you have at least 3 free
joints along the member between the points of support. If you use a distributed load as the mass, you must remember
that some of the load will automatically go into the supports and be “lost” to the dynamic solution. In general, you will
get the best results by applying your mass as joint loads to the free joints.
If you are trying to model dynamic effects on a 2D frame, you will want to make sure that you restrain the out-of-plane

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degrees of freedom. See Boundary Condition at ALL Joints to learn how to do this.

Modal Frequency Results

Access the Modal Frequency spreadsheet by selecting it from the Results Menu.

These are the calculated model frequencies and periods. The period is simply the reciprocal of the frequency. These
values will be used along with the mode shapes when a response spectra analysis is performed. The first frequency
with a high participation is sometimes referred to as the model's natural or fundamental frequency. These frequency
values, as well as the mode shapes, will be saved and remain valid unless you change the model data, at which time
they will be cleared and you need to re-solve the dynamics to get them back.
Also listed on this spreadsheet are the participation factors for each mode for each global direction, along with the
total participation. If no participation factors are listed, the response spectra analysis (RSA) has not been performed
for that direction. If the RSA has been done but a particular mode has no participation factor listed, that mode shape
is not participating in that direction. This usually is because the mode shape represents movement in a direction
orthogonal to the direction of application of the spectra. See Dynamic Analysis - Response Spectra for more
information.

Mode Shape Results

Access the Mode Shape spreadsheet by selecting it from the Results Menu.

These are the model's mode shapes. Mode shapes have no units and represent only the movement of the joints
relative to each other. The mode shape values can be multiplied or divided by any value and still be valid, so long as
they retain their value relative to each other. To view higher or lower modes you may select them from the drop-
down list of modes on the Window Toolbar.
Note

Keep in mind that these mode shapes do not, in and of themselves, represent model deflections. They only
represent how the joints move relative to each other. You could multiply all the values in any mode shape

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by any constant value and that mode shape would still be valid. Thus, no units are listed for these mode
shape values.

These mode shapes are used with the frequencies to perform a Response Spectra Analysis. The first mode is
sometimes referred to as the natural or fundamental mode of the model. The frequency and mode shape values will
be saved until you change your model data. When the model is modified, these results are cleared and you will need
to re-solve the model to get them back.

You can plot and animate the mode shape of the model by using the Plot Options. This allows you to verify the mode
shapes that were obtained and highlights local modes making them easy to troubleshoot. See Plot Options –
Deflections for more information.

Dynamics Troubleshooting – Local Modes

A common problem you may encounter are “localized modes”. These are modes where only a small part of the model
is vibrating and the rest of the model is not. A good example of this is an X brace that is vibrating out of plane.
Localized modes are not immediately obvious from looking at the frequency or numeric mode shape results, but they
can be spotted pretty easily using the mode shape animation feature. Just plot the mode shape and animate it. If only
a small part of the model is moving, this is probably a localized mode.
The problem with localized modes is that they can make it difficult to get enough mass participation in the response
spectra analysis (RSA), since these local modes don’t usually have much mass associated with them. This will show up
if you do an RSA with a substantial number of modes but get very little or no mass participation. This would indicate
that the modes being used in the RSA are localized modes.
Quite often, localized modes are due to modeling errors (erroneous boundary conditions, members not attached to
plates correctly, etc.). If you have localized modes in your model, always try a Model Merge before you do anything
else. See Model Merge for more information.
To get rid of localized modes that are not the result of modeling errors, you can sometimes use boundary conditions to
restrain the mode shape. For example, if your localized mode is at a weak X brace (as mentioned before), you could
attach a spring to the center of the X brace to restrain the mode shape. Another cause of local modes is including the
self-weight in models with walls or horizontal diaphragms modeled with plate/shell elements. These walls and floors
can have many modes that will tend to vibrate out-of-plane like drums, but will have very little effect on the overall
structure response. One way to reduce these out-of-plane modes is to make the plate material weightless by setting
the material density to zero. You would then need to “lump” the plate weight at just a few joints on the wall or floor
using joint loads. If you have many sets of X-braces that are vibrating out of plane, you can make all your braces
weightless as well. This takes a little mass out of the model, but is much faster than trying to put in springs for all the

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out of plane directions.

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